The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass

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Excerpt: ... all the fuse blocks down at the bottom, you see," Thompson continued. "The various switches are conveniently arranged where you can easily get at them while you are sitting in front of the panel. Then up here are the microphones, with their coils and wiring where you can easily get at them for inspection or repairs. Rather a neat lay-out, don't you think?" "No doubt of it!" exclaimed Bob, admiringly. "We've never made a CW transmitting set yet, but we hope to some day. A set like this would cost a pile of money, even if you made it yourself." "Rather so," admitted the young operator. "It takes a rich old fellow like Uncle Sam to pony up for a set like that." "We're more interested in receiving sets just at present," said Joe. "Let's take a look at that end of the outfit." "Anything you like," said Thompson, readily. "That panel is located on this side of the room." "I suppose you use a regenerative circuit, don't you?" asked Bob. "Oh, yes," answered the other. "That helps out a lot in increasing the strength of the incoming sounds." "I suppose you use a tickler coil in the plate circuit, don't you?" ventured Joe. "No, in this set we use a variometer in the plate circuit instead," said Thompson. "Speaking of regenerative circuits, have you heard about Armstrong's new invention?" asked Bob. The operator shook his head. "Can't say that I have," he said. "It must be something very recent, isn't it?" "Yes, I believe it is," said Bob. "I read about it the other day in one of the latest radio magazines." "Do you remember how it worked?" asked Thompson, eagerly. "I wish you'd tell me about it, if you do." "I'll do my best," promised Bob. "The main idea seems to be to make one tube do as much as three tubes did before. Armstrong found that the limit of amplification had been reached when the negative charge in the tube approaches the positive...show more